Since most of tonight’s post is mostly populated by Magic the Gathering product, we’ll start out with the two non-Magic related items.

First up, is the second item release for Dungeons & Dragons aka D&D Next aka D&D 5.0 is out this weekend. The Icons of the Realm miniature set for the D&D Starter Set includes pre-painted miniatures for each of the six character classes, including cleric, fighter, wizard, and more.

The second non-Magic release for the week is the new Stormclaw box set for Warhammer 40K.

Acting like a semi-starter kit, Stormclaw features two playable armies, one for Orks, one for Space Wolves. Outside of a condensed, digest sized version of the 40K core rules, the box set also includes an exclusive Stormclaw campaign booklet and two exclusive figures for each army. Grukk Face-Rippa, for the Orks, and Krom Dragongaze, for Space Wolves, also come with rules for play.

Now to the Magic stuff.

In case you’ve been asleep for a month or so, the 2015 Core Set for Magic the Gathering is out. As is the case with all set releases for Magic, the standard booster boxes, Fat Packs, and Intro Decks have been released. Fat Packs contain nine booster packs of M15, two mini-deck boxes, one larger one, a spindown counter, and more. Intro Decks are pre-built sixty card decks and two booster packs.

For the first time, Wizards has also released a Two-Player Clash Pack. This dual deck set includes two entirely pre-built, playable decks, making it perfect for two friends to pick up and play. Similar to the previously released Event Decks, the Clash Pack contain a number of high dollar rares, including Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Temple of Mystery, Genesis Hydra, and Courser of Kruphix.

Finally, if you’re going to be gaining a ton of new M15 singles, you’re going to want sleeves to go with them. Each of the six major Planeswalkers for the set have each received the sleeve treatment, so no matter what color you play, Wizards has you covered. As well, new playmats and binders have also been released.

So say the Sentinels of Terra in the newest Space Marines Codex supplement. This hardcover release contains information on how to build a Sentinels army, a detailed background of the faction telling how they came to be and what they desire, and an array of mission templates designed to recreate famous battles from the Sentinels history.

Also out from the Warhammer 40K universe this weekend is the Imperial Knights Codex. Collecting valuable information for the reassembled Knight world faction, this Codex contains the history of the Imperial Knights, extended information about the Knight Errant and Paladin suits, and rules for running an Imperial Knightdetachment.

A week late due to these aggravating shipping troubles that continue to pop up recently, the Born of the Gods Event Deck is now available!

A mono black deck, the Underworld Herald Event Deck is designed for competitive tournament play. An entirely built sixty card deck and fifteen card sideboard, Underworld Herald features a combination of Pack Rat, Doom Blade, Xathrid Necromancer, and Desecration Demon, the latter of which is a nearly ten dollar card.

The highly popular storytelling battle game Once Upon a Time, wherein players jockey for control of a fantasy narrative using their imagination and special story beat cards, gains another expansion this weekend in Knightly Tales. Focusing on Knights and their honorable bravery, this fifty-five card expansion adds additional story and ending cards.

Two great tastes that taste great together, Drinking Quest the Card Game combines roleplaying games and, well, drinking.

A simple card game styled around the mechanics of classic RPGs, Drinking Quest has players choose stat-ed character cards, just like in RPGs, then face off against monsters (decided randomly by the cards, acting as GM). Beat the monster and you earn life and glory, lose and you must chug, chug, chug! If you have the most XP by the game’s end, you win. The losers drink. So, really everyone comes out alright.

Everyone just get quiet for a second and appreciate the new Dark Ascension Event Decks.
………….

Okay, that’s a fair amount of appreciation. Now for some words of explanation. The red-centric deck, Gleeful Flames, comes equipped with two Inkmoth Nexuses and a bunch of other strong red cards, while the green-centric deck, Spiraling Doom, includes Grim Backwoods, Myr Battlesphere, and Solemn Simulacrum along with a bunch of other tasty stuff. So grab an Event Deck and get dominating at the next tournament.

Doubtfully the final frontier, Alien Frontiers is the highly demanded Kickstarter success of last year. A cleverly designed, beautiful looking colinization game for up to four players, Alien Frontiers has players battling for resources and building colonies in an effort to take command of this vast planetscape.

Speaking of planetary control,Twilight Imperium Rex does not stray away from the world domination mechanics. Based on the system and mechanics of the classic Dune board game (entirely related to the cult classic novels and movies), Rex is a recreation of the same political power struggle present in the first version of the game. Covering three to six players, Rex needs to simultaneously sought by all of them because it will be gone as quick as a sandworm in a drought.

If your hankering for evil beings isn’t satiated yet, then grab your coat and head on over for Nightfall: The Coldest War. This new stand-alone expansion for the popular horror-centric deck building game comes with a wide range of brand new cards. These include completely original starting minions and moon phase cards that expand the game to a global scale. All the wound cards in this set are also entirely redeisnged and re-illustrated.

Speaking of game heavily populated by werewolves and the like, fans of the spooky and nerdy may be intersted in the restock we received on Vampire Werewolf Fairies. Yes, all three are in the same game. And the ultimate goal is to combine as many character types into one super creature or just beef up a single vampire, werewolf, or fairy until your the top dog. For even more fan-tacular action, combine the game with its expansion Zombie Ninja Pirates. Guess what comes in it?

With the new supplemental edition of Deathwatch, The Jericho Reach, gamers take on the role of border patrol Space Marines who guard the titled reach from utter annihilation. In this hardcover, Deathwatch fanatics will find details on all the planets in the Reach, the races that encompass it, all the special abilities at the Marines disposal, and the beasties of Hive Fleet Dagon. How much more distopia can you ask for?

Lastly, lets mosey on outta all this here dark, futury nonsense and get on back to the days’a the West with the new Bang: Gold Rush expansion. The first new expansion for the game in a spell, Gold Rush adds gold nugget cards that will allow participants to purchase new weaponary and equipment. But beware, the shadow-gunslingers have arrived and they’re aiming to shoot you down. Keep one of the most fun games around fresh and exciting by adding this set of cards to the base.

With Innistrad Game Day only a day away, people may be grasping for a deck to play. Well, look no further than the brand spanking new Innistrad Event Decks.

Always released two at a time, the Event Decks are made for competitive tournament play coming completely built (60 cards, 15 card sideboard) and ready to squash opponents.

This time around the decks are Hold the Line and Deathfed. The former being white-centric and the latter being blue, black, and green-centric. Both contain desired cards, as well, for the player who just needs a quick and easy way to obtain what they’re looking for. For instance, Oblivion Ring, Champion of the Parish, Elite Inquisitor, and Hinterland Harbor.

And also, since these are the catch all of Magic products, they work perfectly for players who are just getting into the game and/or are needing a deck for their first constructed experience.

You’ve played the Last Night on Earths, the Zombies!, and the Zombie Dices of the world, but here’s the zombie tale to show them how it’s done. Yes, fellow survivors, The Walking Dead has become a board game. Specifically The Walking Dead television show (the comic game comes later this year), this game is about survival. You play characters from the show (represented by detailed character cards) on the search for supplies and safe haven, but beware, you can become a walker! Proclaimed as a unique blend of cooperative and competitive play (as players can choose to team up or back stab), the game challenges people to make the tough decisions of who lives and who dies as supplies diminish while demand increases.

A little like Monopoly 1880′s, Homesteaders second edition is about building a boom town. From Tasty Minstrel Games (the birthers of the popular Martian Dice), players spend resources to construct buildings, which, in turn, will provide their owner with money, special abilities, and points. The player who has built the largest portion of the town by the end of ten rounds finds themselves the winner.

Yee-haw, get’ter buildin’, pardner!

Never have dice caused such destruction! Dark Minions is a game that encompasses those scenes in Lord of the Rings where that massive hoard of orks, goblins, and, I don’t know, accountants maybe, descend upon a castle or some such stony fortress. Gamers control an assortment of 50 dice, each representing a slimy ransacker of towns. And that, no surprise, is what you will be doing. Choosing between storming a town, demolishing a tower, or bringing the dead back to life. And if that ain’t enough, the game also includes an advanced mode that includes overlords who deal insane damage when they are called into play.

Like a treasure chest hidden deep in a dragon-guarded cavern, the new Pathfinder Beginner Box has everything you could ever want. Borrowing the Red Box concept from D&D, Pathfinder has created a simple, one-stop product that can introduce and teach players about the Pathfinder system. This little gem has within its sturdy confines a Hero’s Handbook (describing all the essentials of play), a Game Master’s Guide (basics of running an adventure), a complete set of dice, a map, character markers, and pre-built character sheets with hints in the margins about what each stat and section represents. If you want to take a sneak peek into all these wonderfully helpful contents, stop by the store and examine our demo copy.

Speaking of Pathfinder goodness, it’s worth mentioning that two new books shipped this week, one a campaign setting, the other a player companion. First is Lands of Linnorm Kings which details all the essential elements of the the viking’s home world. Second would be Faiths of Corruption, a guide to the evil-aligned religions and faiths of the universe along with their adjoining rules and abilities.

Always a good night when you can end on familial murder and deceit.

And so we come to the Tourney for the Hand Chapter Pack, the start of a new chapter in the Game of Thrones LCG. If you’re unfamiliar, Fantasy Flight‘s assortment of Living Card Games begin with a base game then expand through individual, non-random chapter packs. These packs are then grouped into assortments of five or six, representing a “book”. Thus, you can see why Game of Thrones would be a perfect property to attach such a mechanic to. Anyway, Tourney for the Hand begins the Tales of Champions “book”, giving players sixty new cards to incorporate into their game.

The first couple of items we’re going to start out with, it should be noted, won’t actually be available for purchase until Friday. So, don’t get too jumpy, just yet.

First up, is all the new D&D items that are hitting this Friday. The new Witchlight Fens Dungeon Tiles are another in the long line of D&D tile sets. Specifically, Witchlight adds onto The Wilderness pack, focusing on swamps. Also shipping is, The Monster Vault: Threats of Nentir Vale hardcover which includes within its glossy pages a number of creatures from the titled region. Creatures like the Raven Roost Bandits, stand as perfect challenges for heroic and paragon-tier characters. The book also includes the standard pages of monster tokens and maps that you expect.

Also dropping Friday are the New Phyrexia Event Decks. If you remember the Mirrodin Besieged Event Decks, these are extremely strong, vastly playable decks constructed to dominate your opponents. Most of the people I’ve seen play with these have come in somewhere in the top five players of the night. These two New Phyrexia decks, War of Attrition and Rot from Within, are built around white and green, respectively. Even if you don’t want to use the decks, some of the cards they contain are worth it alone. For instance, War has two Stoneforge Mystics, one Mirran Crusader, and a Puresteel Paladin while Rot has an Inkmoth Nexus, a Green Sun’s Zenith, and a Putrefax. These are also limited; once we’re out, we’re out. So, get’em while you can.

Okay, now for some stuff that you can actually buy today!

If you weren’t aware, this year marks the 10th anniversary of one of our favorite games, Carcassonne. We like to call it a “tent-pole” game, as it is one of our consistent sellers and an all around enjoyable game for the whole family. As part of the anniversary celebration, Rio Grande Games has released a new Carcassonne 10th Anniversary edition, which contains ten new tiles for the Festival expansion as well as the new, clear, “phantom” meeples. Speaking of meeples, there is also a new “Phantom” meeples mini-expansion. Inside this clear meeple-shaped case are enough pieces for up to six players and a new “phantom” rule set. Finally, a new anniversary edition of the Carcassonne Dice Game has also shipped. It comes in a quaint meeple-shaped tin, as well, and includes a pad, pencil, and the rule booklet.

One of two Godzilla-related games that came in today, Godzilla Stomp! is a card based game where players choose control of either Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, Battra, or Destoroyah and battle to see who destroys the most buildings through fighting or rampaging. Simple destruction, what could be better?

Second up, is Godzilla, Kaiju World Wars. Basically, a grander, boardgame version of Godzilla Stomp!, players choose from Godzilla, Rodan, Gigan, or King Ghidorah. From there you choose one of the many scenarios contained in the game and begin crushing buildings, fighting off the army, and battling other monsters. Each creature has special abilities that they can whip out when needed.

Don’t call it an expansion! The Struggle for Catan Card Game follows in the footsteps of the previous Rivals of Catan that made for two to four players. Working off of the mechanics popularized by the Settlers of Catan boardgame, Struggle has players managing resources as they build cities, knights, roads, and so forth. The twist is that certain roads and knights can change hands. As usual, the first player to ten victory points gets the win.

An important restock note, Citadels has come back in stock. That is all. No, wait, that’s not all. There’s also two new sets of prepainted miniatures (in the vein of the Arkham Horror miniatures from a couple months back) for City of Thieves. If you’ve played the game, you know that the miniatures included in it are gorgeously sculpted, but lack a nifty paint job. These are equally well sculpted, but also are painted to match. Plus, there is one special miniature not included in the game called the Duke of Cadwallon that introduces a new rule set to the game.

Last but nowhere near least. Like, miles away. Like, here’s least and way over there on the moon is this. That this is the new Dominion expansion Cornucopia. This is not a stand alone game like base Dominion or Intrigue, but it adds a completely new element of play. That element is a reward for variety; the more types of cards in your hand, the more you gain. If you have the cards that allow such a thing, though. Dominion really needs no introduction at this point, so we’ll leave it at that.

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